Early Quorn marketing materials sought to convey a relationship with more desirable fungi, such as mushrooms and morels, says a CSPI release. But according to a statement made by an expert in fungal taxonomy to CSPI, “mushrooms are as distantly related to Quorn’s fungus as humans are to jellyfish.”
Nevertheless, a number of consumers report the same allergic effects when eating Quorn products, and symptoms appear within an hour or two of eating the fungal-based food, according to CSPI. The meat substitute is used in artificial chicken patties and nuggets, turkey-like cylindrical roasts and meat-free analogs of several British delicacies like “Cornish pasties” and “Toad in the Hole.”